The Photograph
by Heart of Summer
Summary: Harry is leaving Hermione and Ron behind, but when he finds a certain photoalbum he realize something. HHr lovin!


**"The Photgraph"**  
By HeartofSummer  
Genre: Harry and Hermione angst and romance  
Copyright: Harry decides to leave his best friends behind to keep them safe from himself. But before he leaves, he finds an old photo album that makes him realize a few things.

* * *

_Look at this photograph  
Everytime I do it makes me laugh  
How did our eyes get so red  
And what the hell is on Joey's head_

A boy sneaked catlike across the floor.

His raven black hair was messier than ever and his emerald-green eyes narrowed as he gazed trough the room. He added a pair of his boxers into the open bag he had placed on the bed as his eyes moved to the boy sleeping in the bed opposite his. He was snoring loudly, moth open and drooling. But it only made the black haired skinny boy chortle lightly to himself.

Suddenly a knock was heard against the window.

The boy hurried there to open it and a beautiful pearl-white owl flew in and sat on his outstretched arm.

"Hullo, Hedwig. Perfect timing." The owl hooted softly in reply. "Yeah", the boy said. "I was just about to leave... so, what did McGonagall say?"  
Hedwig stretched out her leg to the boy, were a parchment was tied. He took it and the owl moved to his shoulder instead, as the boy sat down on the bed and unrolled the parchment with Hogwarts' symbol on it.

_Dear Mr. Harry Potter_

_I was a bit disappointed when you told me you won't come back to graduate but not surprised. I assure you I will talk to Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger if that's what you want and I will leave your message to them. _  
_I believe you did the right choice to leave without them and know I can't stop you._  
_I can also promise you that I won't lead any further investigations concerning Hourcruxes, but I will be prepared. _  
_I need you to know that I'm very proud of you and so must Dumbledore, Sirius, Lily and James be. They are. They all are. _  
_It was Dumbledore's choice to leave you at the Dursley's, as I assume you already know but I was there as well. I've seen you grow up, get friends and you've never given up. And what will Hogwarts be without the famous Trio, just like the four Marauders? The whole castle will miss you Harry and we will never forget you. No one will ever forget you or all the things you've done for the wizarding world. _

_Thank you, Harry. _  
_  
Minerva McGonagall_  
_Headmistress of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Harry blinked as he felt tears sting in his eyes.

He had been touched by McGonagall's letter and his heart hurt an extra bit when he thought about it. He put it in his pocket, stuffed the last pack of clothes into his bag and picked up his Firebolt. Then he searched for parchment and a quill. When he felt under his pillow he found what he was looking for; and a photo album. The one Hagrid had given him at the end of his first year.

_And this is where I grew up  
I think the present owner fixed it up  
I never knew we'd ever went without  
The second floor is hard for sneaking out_

With trembling fingers, he opened it.

At the first page were the pictures of his parents' wedding, Sirus and himself. He could also see Dumbledore twinkle at one of them. His fingertips floated across the moving pictures.

When he turned the page he nearly wished he hadn't. Here was all the other pictures he had collected himself over the years.

The first was from the first year. He stood between the boy who was snoring in the same room and a bushy haired girl with hazel brown, _beautiful_ eyes.

They all moved and he smiled when the girl waved towards the onlooker. He read the text he'd written under the photo;

_Me, Ron and Hermione on our way home. _

His eyes moved on down to a picture of Hagrid and then of one of him at the Burrow. He had Hermione in his lap and it was clear that it was Ron who had taken the picture since it was not at all straight. In the back you could see a blazing red ponytail that Harry guessed belonged to Ginny. He couldn't believe how small they were.  
On another picture it was just Ginny with her cheeks were furiously flushed as she looked into the camera, blinking shyly.

Harrys smile widened when there were a picture of all the Weasley's outside the Burrow, this were like a second home for him. His family.

_And this is where I went to school  
Most of the time I had better things to do  
Criminal records says I've broke in twice  
I must have done it half a dozen times _

_I wonder if it's too late  
Should I go back and try to graduate  
Life's better now than it was back then  
If I was them I wouldn't let me in_

Soon he got to a picture of Hogwarts. The mysterious castle rose up towards the starlit sky and it mirrored itself into the lake.

From the outside it may look mysterious and cold but on the inside it was the warmest and most loving place in the world. At least it was for Harry. It was his _home_. He hated the thought of leaving it, but what choice did he have? But he couldn't go back, could he?

For a second the thought about returning to Hogwarts and the possibility of graduating rushed through his mind. But he just pushed it away.

He couldn't. It was impossible; he couldn't play around anymore like he'd done last year. He had a bigger burden on his shoulders than ever, he was a Hourcrux. And it meant that he had to... – what exactly?

He wasn't sure, but he had to. He just had to.

He concentrated on the album and turned the next page. When he did he let out a chuckle and was momentarily worried he might wake Ron up.

The thing that'd made him laugh was a picture Colin had taken when he'd sneaked into the hospital wing. It was a of Hermione rolled up on her bed like a cat, face all full of black fur and her whiskers were tugging a bit. Then he was captured by how cute she was. She looked like any black fuzzy kitten and whose heart didn't melt for that? I mean, even Filch liked cats, he had Mrs. Norris.

Harry recognized the article of the Weasleys in Egypt he'd gotten from Ron. He smiled as his eyes drew to one were Hermione and Ron was fighting about something, and another when Scabbers and Crookshanks ran through the room at the leaky cauldron.  
Then there was one of Ron and Scabbers. And one of the shrieking shack. He kept on watching and saw pictures of Buckbeak and Hagrids giant pumpkins. Then it was one at Treawelny running around in circles, and then from their fourth year, were it wasn't nearly any of Ron. At the beginning it was one of the tent and from the quidditch game though, were Bulgaria and Irelands quidditch players flew all over the audience who cheered and roared their lounges out.

He was really going to miss it all.

_Every memory of looking out the back door  
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life _

_Every memory of walking out the front door  
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life_

Then there was a lot of picture of him and Hermione, but only one at Ron, when he stood looking half asleep in just his pajamas with Piggy zooming in circles around his head.

Then it was; he and Hermione walking on the shore of the lake, talking and he was eating some toast she'd brought for him.

It was he and Hermione studying late in the library, he and Hermione practicing with pillows, he and Hermione after the second task, he and Hermione hugging and Hermione... and Krum, dancing.

Suddenly memories rushed through him without him being able to stop them.

Hermione threw her arms around him in first year when he was going off alone, second when she came back from being petrified, in third year it happened several times, also in fourth year, were it also were Hermione kissing his cheek and fifth year, when Hermione threw herself around his neck after the summer and when Harry came back from the dead Dumbledore she didn't care about Ginny, she just hugged him, trying to get comfort. Harry shook his head, feeling slightly light headed. What was wrong with him? And why couldn't he stop thinking of her small fingers entwining with his?

_We used to listen to the radio  
And sing along with every song we knew  
We said someday we'd find out how if feels  
To sing to more than just the steering wheel_

Harry remembered the Yule ball clearly. Hermione had really looked amazing. He turned page not to think about it and found pictures from their fifth year.

It was on Tonks changing noses and pictures of Lupin and Mad-eye Moody. Harry smiled.

He saw a picture of him, Ron and Hermione at the Three Broomsticks, drinking butter beer. Then it was a picture of Snuffles (Sirius), smiling tiredly at him with the black dirty hair hanging to his shoulder. His eyes were black but looked more like dog eyes than anything else, reminding him of black stars.

And just beside those there was a picture of him as Padfoot and Dumbledore. Dumbledores Blue eyes twinkled happily at him and Harry somehow knew that he had it better wherever he was now. But when Sirius/the dog started playing with Dumbledore he asked himself; is he really?

A wave of sadness washed over him as his heart hurt. He missed them all so much. How much would he miss Ron and Hermione then? How would it feel to have to avoid his best friends, even if they were alive?

_Kim's the first girl I kissed  
I was so nervous that I nearly missed  
She's had a couple of kids since then  
I haven't seen her since God knows when_

He swallowed hard and looked at the next page.

It was some pictures from the DA meetings. He saw himself glancing at Cho, who giggled quietly. Ron was snickering, but he saw that Hermione just huffed, crossed her arms and looked away. He stared at the picture – Hermione when she went out of the frame with fast steps.

He turned page again and saw pictures of him and Ginny, but Hermione wasn't in a single one of them. Then a photo fell out.

_Oh oh oh  
Oh God I_

Harry tock up the photo that was lying on the floor, and when he looked at it his heart fluttered in his chest.

It was a picture of only Hermione sitting in an armchair, reading a book. She quietly turned the page and then looked up. Harry could see a coy smile playing on her lips and suddenly her beauty hit him hard in the chest. Her hazel eyes were gleaming with knowledge and warmth. He was captured by her, all of her.

_Every memory of looking out the back door  
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life_

Suddenly a longing came to him, catching him off guard. He had to see her.

He grabbed his luggage and rushed out of the room towards Hermione's. Then he stopped.

It was _Ginny's_ room... He felt his heart falling down into his stomach and out of his butt, sinking like a stone. He could nearly hear the thud when it landed down on the first floor.

_Wait_... it _was_ a sound from downstairs. And; Ginny cursing under her breathe.

He laughed to himself and reached out for the doorknob.

The door creaked open and he saw her in the bed. He could also see she knew something was wrong, even in her sleep, because she tossed and turned. Worried, as she wrinkled her nose a bit.

The silvery moon was falling over her bed and for a second Hermione looked petrified in his eyes once again. But her eyes were closed this time.

Her skin looked smooth like silk and her brown, bushy curls fell across the pillow like a waterfall of honey and a strand of it was laid over her face.

It crossed her rosy cheek, a bit of her long, dark eyelashes and then touched her heart shaped pink lips.

Harry swept the strand away from her face and his fingers leaped over her cheek. Her lips trembled a little and a small smile played on them for a second as her hot breath tickled his skin. Harrys fingers tickled, they told him to touch that soft and sensitive spot; her mouth. But he held them back, in fear of waking her up.

He walked over to the desk and scribbled a last message to her. He had already left a note on his pillow were he thanked the Weasleys. He nibbled the top of his quill and then put it back in his bag.

As he did it he asked himself one thing;

What was the hardest? To leave somebody or be left behind?

_Every memory of walking out the front door  
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life_

He didn't know the answer and he'd experienced both several times. He just shook his head and opened the window to let Hedwig out.

"You know… I want you to stay here", Harry said to the owl as he put a note around her leg. "I want you to stay with Hermione, she's gonna look out for you from now on, okay?"

Hedwig hooted sadly and flew back to his shoulder as she reached out and nibbled his ear.

"I know you don't want me to go alone... that's why I'm leaving you with Mione. You remind me of her – a lot. She wouldn't want to do the _right_ thing anymore either, she would've wanted to do the thing she_ wanted_..." He tried to get Hedwig off him as he spoke, but her claws bored into his shoulder. "But Hedwig... you have to do the right thing, or else I'll _die_..."

Hedwig let go of him and her big amber eyes were gleaming with unshed tears.  
"_I know"_, Harry whispered to her sadly. "But it's okay. Just stay with Hermione, I know you'll take good care of her... and Crookshanks actually_ likes_ you..."

He patted her wings and then stroke her between her eyes and let his finger trail to her beak. She returned his petting by nibbling his finger sweetly and then with a last hoot in goodbye, she flew out into the endless night to arrive to the Burrow again next morning.

Harry looked after her until she disappeared just like another snowflake-like star in the sky. Then he turned to the sleeping body of the bushy haired girl again. He took up his broom from Ginnys empty bed and bent down over Hermione.

When his lips placed on her soft cheek an electric shock arose between them and he could see Hermione was on her way to wake up.

_I miss that town  
I miss their faces  
You can't erase  
You can't replace it _

_I miss it now  
I can't belive it  
So hard to stay  
Too hard to leave it_

He hurried out through the window as he heard someone coming up the stairs; Ginny was on her way back to her room.

The night was chilly and it squeezed the breath right out of him. Harry got up on his broom and the last thing he saw before flying away into the dark was Hermione's chocolate hazel brown eyes looking at him. Terrified.

"_Goodbye life",_ he whispered, feeling melancholic, and turned the Firebolt against the full moon.

_If I could I relive those days  
I know the one thing that would never change_

Hermione's eyes flew open.

Her gaze was falling on something outside the window. Her eyes met two very familiar emerald green ones for a second, but when she blinked the one she thought she'd seen was gone.

She could've just closed her eyes again and went back to sleep, but she didn't dare taking that chance. So instead she got up from the warm, safe bed and looked around the room. She gasped when she saw what she'd feared.

_Every memory of looking out the back door  
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life_

Hermione hurried to the desk just by the window which was wide open and her eyes quickly read the note.

_Dear Hermione_

_Tell Ron that I'm a Hourcrux, We both know he wouldn't handle a note very well._  
_I left Hedwig in your possession and all her things are left in Ron's room. I trust you to take care of her._  
_And in case I won't be able to tell you…_  
_I love you, Hermione Jane Granger_

_H._

Hermione blinked and she was so scared for the piece of Voldemort's soul inside of Harry. How could he; that _Monster?_

Hermione's hand crushed the parchment and made to a little boll that she threw angrily at her bed.

"No, please no", she whispered with a voice that nearly broke.

"What is it Hermione?" Ginny asked from the doorway but Hermione didn't answer. She just hurried past, pushing Ginny aside. Ginny smashed into the opposite wall and her head hit it to. She cursed quietly as she saw Hermione, moaning loudly to herself about snakes, hurrying up the stairs.

Hermione pushed the door open and when she saw the empty bed she let out a howl of sorrow. Ron sat up in the bed with a start but Hermione didn't notice. Didn't_ care_.

Her tear filled eyes drew to the floor which was full of pictures. Harry seemed to have thrown the photo album across the room so that the pictures had fallen out. She saw them all moving, but Harry wasn't in a single one of them.

_Every memory of walking out the front door  
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for  
It's hard to say it, time to say it  
Goodbye life, goodbye life_

She walked with a certain insecurity over to the open window and saw a photo on the desk. She took it in her hands as she heard Ginny and Ron's voices echoing somewhere far away, trying to reach her. She saw herself smiling coyly in the picture and her heart was longing for him. How could he do this, leaving without letting her tell him how much she loved _him_?

"He's gone", she whispered.

"What?" asked Ginny's voice in the back. Hermione cleared her voice before saying;

"He's not coming back..."

It was like those words got her back to reality. The tears started finding their way down her face like creeks. She couldn't do a thing and she's started shaking uncontrollably. For the first time in her entire life she couldn't do anything.

_I love you too Harry_, she though as she placed her face in her hands and her knees buckled under her. She fell against the hard floor and she fell forever into a complete darkness.

She was too late.

_Look at this photograph  
Everytime I do it makes me laugh  
Everytime I do it makes me_


End file.
